Delhi HC issues notice to DU’s St Stephen’s College on plea against interview for general seats

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has issued notice to Delhi University’s St Stephen’s College on a plea challenging the college's decision to conduct an interview round for admission to the general category, the Live Law reported. The plea filed by a law student seeks admission to the college through Common University Entrance Test (CUET).

A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Sachin Datta has directed the College to file its response in the matter in four weeks. The bench will hear the case on July 6.

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According to the petitioner Konika Poddar who is a law student at DU, conducting interviews will lead to discrimination and manipulation as marks will be awarded as per the “subjective satisfaction” of the selection panel.

DU’s new admission policy states that minority colleges such as St Stephen’s College can conduct admissions to unreserved categories through CUET whereas admissions to reserved categories can be done on the basis of 15% weightage to interview and 85% to CUET.

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The plea argued that St Stephen’s College's decision to conduct interviews for all categories is against DU admission policy and also against the mandate of the Academic and Executive Council of the University. The plea also referred to an article written by ex-principal of the College alleging irregularities in interview process of the college in the past.

DU has asked St Stephen's College to align its admission procedure with the university's policy, noting that the CUET will provide a level playing field to all applicants. The university and the college are at loggerheads over the admission process. The college had earlier said it will accord 85 percent weightage to the CUET score and 15 per cent to physical interviews for all categories of candidates.

With the college refusing to do away with the interview process for admissions, the DU has said it is "firm" on its decision to declare "null and void" all admissions made by the college in violation of the CUET guidelines.